


Your Names, Your Touch

by KatWrech



Series: Storks Snippets, Probably Abandoned [1]
Category: Storks (2016)
Genre: ??? - Freeform, Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Diamond Remembers, F/M, I'm sorry guys I had to, What Have I Done, enjoy what you have, i guess, there will be no part two, this is horrible but please read it, which means
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-10 07:28:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12294243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatWrech/pseuds/KatWrech
Summary: Sandy Gardner, youngest kid in the Gardner family, remembers stuff she shouldn't remember. It doesn't make that much of a difference in her life... until those memories become too real.





	Your Names, Your Touch

Sandy screwed her eyes shut. It didn’t make much of a difference, her room was just as dark anyways, but at least now she was grimacing. There were two people in her dreams again. Or… not people, exactly. One of them was a stork, after all. The other was a human.

Something warm surrounded them, fire and love and feathers against her skin. She was safe, and got a feeling of security, whenever she had those dreams. And recently, she’d been having them more and more often.

She wasn’t sure if it bothered her or not.

She was present in the dreams, but she did not know who she was, or how old she was. She knew she was there, and that was it. The people seemed to know that she was there, too.

Sometimes they looked at her. Spoke to her. Hugged her, sung for her, played with her. The details were never clear when she woke up, but the warm feeling of security lingered.

Sometimes they spoke to each other, with a sharp gleam in their eyes. It wasn’t the same gleam as when they looked at her, but similar. Frighteningly similar, in fact. Sandy wasn’t sure if they should be looking at each other like that.

But they were only dreams, right?

She wasn’t so sure anymore.

Tonight, she’d woken up with her bangs clinging to her face, drenched in sweat, and her heart racing. There had been… images tonight. Not just something that _happened_ , but something that… felt more real. More true, in a way.

There had been a feeling of flying, of falling, snow against her skin, cooing and rough fur against her stomach. Sun had caressed her skin, the stork had sung into her ear while the human girl had rocked her to sleep.

Sandy inhaled shakily, opening her eyes to stare emptily at the ceiling.

She had thought of the people as _mom_ and _dad_.

This was bad. This was really, really bad.

*

“Mother?” Sandy asked, the next morning at breakfast. Mother looked up from her food, raising her eyebrows in a silent question. “Who’re my parents? How did I get to you?”

Father began coughing, while her brother, Nate, gave her a startled glance. “They never told you?” he asked. Sandy shook her head. “You never told her?” He turned an angry glare at their parents.

“Dear,” Father said, putting down his fork and frowning at her through his hair. “The storks came with you. Nate ordered a baby brother, and we got you.”

“I’m not a boy,” Sandy said, shaking her head nervously. “And the storks? Did they deliver babies at that time?”

“Not really,” Nate said, chewing on a pancake. “But apparently they decided you were special.”

This wasn’t what she wanted to know. She’d kind of expected it, since she had pink hair –it certainly wasn’t a natural color-, but it didn’t answer her questions. “Who delivered me?” she asked, instead of complaining of not knowing before. “Who? I _need_ to know.”

Her parents exchanged glances. “Why?” they asked, almost in unison.

Sandy bit her lip and looked down. “I’ve been having- dreams, I guess. I think I know why I can’t call you mom and dad.” That had been a problem, before. They’d asked her why. Weren’t they good enough parents? Hadn’t they been warm enough towards her? Had they done something wrong, was she mad at them?

She hadn’t known what to say. It just felt wrong.

But now she knew.

“Why?” her parents repeated, this time eagerly and curious.

Sandy swallowed. She didn’t like this. She was going to disappoint them, she knew. “There were someone before you,” she breathed. “A stork. And a human. I don’t- I think of them as mom and dad. I know they’re not my real parents, but… there must a story behind this.” There was a pause, and Sandy drew a deep breath before continuing. Her parents certainly didn’t seem inclined towards speaking. “Stork deliveries are both quick and eventless. They just fly. Stop now and then to sleep, fine, but that’s _it_. There are no humans involved.”

Mother seemed worried. Father was staring at his food. Nate was oblivious to the tension. “Dear,” Mother said, her voice not quite a worried drawl. “Are you sure it’s not your imagination? It’s probably just dreams. You’re a teenager. I know _I_ had weird dreams when I was your age.”

Sandy scowled, her temper rising like wings behind her. “ _Who delivered me_?” she said, forcing the words out through clenched teeth. “I _need_ to know.”

“A human,” Nate shot in, ignoring the betrayed looks their parents shot him. Sandy’s head swiveled round to stare at him. Hope swelled in her chest. “And two storks. A fat, dirty one, and a clean, delicate one. The delicate one handed you over, you touched his beak, the human girl came over to say goodbye… the fat stork stayed away.”

Vivid images shot through Sandy’s mind, and her mouth fell open. Hair the color of flames, feathers warm like milk, eyes like the sunrise. Junior and Tulip. That was their names. She was sure of it.

“Wh-” Sandy breathed, blinking and returning to reality. “What did he say? Junior, I mean?”

Nate scrunched up his face and tilted his head. “Junior?”

“The stork,” Sandy explained, a loud beeping noise echoing in her head. “What did he say? What did he tell you?”

Again, her parents exchanged glances. “He told us to sign some forms,” Mother shrugged, perplexed.

“Wait.” Father frowned, deep in thought. “The stork… he said, _‘I love you, my little lady_.’ And then the human girl came over, and she said _‘and we always will_.”

Oh Lord.

A wolf was licking her cheek, and she was giggling.

Dad was baby-talking with her, and she was cooing at him.

Mom was rocking her, and then dad wrapped a wing around them both.

She was staring into mom’s eyes as she and dad bantered about what to call her. “ _Diamond Destiny_ ,” her mom said gleefully, the stars shining in her eyes.  “ _Too late to change now!_ ”

Diamond covered her face with her hands and cried.

*

The air was warm, pressing up against Diamond’s skin and caressing it like a lover’s touch. She sighed, grabbing a fistful of grass and ripping it to shreds. Alright, so she knew what her real name was, now. She knew who her first parents had been. What was she supposed to do with that information? She couldn’t just seek them out, right?

Wait.

Diamond sat up and gasped.

She _could_! Her friend, Gabbie, had just announced that the storks would be delivering her baby brother in three days. Diamond could just make sure to be there when that happened, and tell the delivering stork that she wanted to talk to Junior and Tulip! Yes, of course, that would work-

Someone cleared their throat, and Diamond looked up. For a moment, the bright light from the sun blinded her. She squinted, shielding her eyes and trying to make out who was standing in front of her.

She gasped. “Dad?” she whispered, and scrambled to her feet. A wild smile took over her face, and she laughed. There was that stork again. She recognized him, even thirteen years after the last time she saw him.

“Don’t panic!” he said, holding out his wings in a calming gesture. “I’m not gonna deliver you anything, I just want to talk-”

He didn’t come further, because Diamond leaped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck.

A rush of _lovesafetyhopejoyfire_ flooded her, and she remembered wolves and a warm body holding her. “It’s you,” she said, pulling back to grin at him. “It’s really you!”

“It’s me- wait, what?” Dad blinked, tilting his head and squinting. Then his face went perfectly blank. “You called me dad,” he said. “Dad. Me.”

“Of course I did,” Diamond said. “You were the first real dad I ever had.” Dad spluttered something incoherent, and she snickered. Then she looked around, biting her lip and going up on her toes. She couldn’t see her anywhere, however, and turned disappointed eyes on the stork. “Where’s mom?”

“Mom?” Dad squeaked, eyes going wide.

“Yeah, Tulip. You know, human, hair like fire, eyes like fresh grass?”

“Oh God,” Dad said, and promptly sat down. “Oh, _God_.”

“Dad!” Diamond cried, rushing forward to kneel beside him. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“I-” Dad said. “I really don’t know, Diamond, I-” He gave a nervous laugh, and rubbed his temple. Diamond helped him up, and he shook his head lightly. “I was supposed to tell you our story, but you _obviously_ remember, so-”

“Oh, just parts of it!” she hurried to say, shaking her head and then nodding. “I’d love to hear the story, dad!”

“Ahahaha!” he said, taking a few steps back and then spreading his wings. “Next week, girl, next week! I have- uh, things to do, work to finish, see you later!”

Realizing two seconds too late what he was doing, Diamond reached out towards him. “Dad, wait!” she cried, but it was too late.

“Next week!” the stork cried, his voice on the verge of panic.

Diamond’s hand fell to her side, and her shoulders slumped. “Fine,” she whispered. “A week. I can wait a week.”

*

Junior ran as fast as he could, ignoring the stings of pain whenever he jumped too far down a staircase. “This is bad, this is bad, this is bad,” he chanted, and threw himself through the door into Tulip’s working space. “Tulip!” he cried.

Tulip spun on her chair, eyes confused and concerned. Junior took a brief pause to just breathe. The years had treated her well, he knew. There was still that joyful spark in her eyes, her hair was still just as unruly as ever. “What’s going on?” she asked, leaping out of her chair and rushing over to him. “Are you hurt?”

Junior shook his head, wheezing as he tried to catch his breath.

“Is someone else hurt?”

Junior shook his head again.

“Did something break?”

Junior shook his head a third time, and Tulip grabbed his shoulders in frustration. “Well then, tell me, man!”

“De-Diamond,” Junior got out. “She thinks we’re her parents!”

“Is that _it_?” Tulip asked, taking a step back. It nearly caused Junior to fall to the ground, but he managed to catch himself just in time. “We kind of _are_ , I guess, but at the same time kind of not, but I can’t see what’s so bad about it?”

Junior shook his head and met her gaze, seeing the burning question in them. “You don’t understand,” he said, still a bit breathless but not as bad as it had been mere moments ago. “She called me _dad_ , and you were _mom_.”

“When was this?” Tulip asked, a perplexed expression on her face. “She couldn’t speak when we were delivering her! What haven’t you told me?”

Junior sighed, and sat down heavily on a chair nearby Tulip’s entrance door. “Yesterday. I visited her, Tulip.” When Tulip gasped and took a step backwards, giving him a betrayed look, he pulled his wings over his face. “I know, I know, I know, I shouldn’t have, but she has to know about her history, right? And-”

“Why didn’t you _tell me_?” Tulip shrieked. Junior started, but the shriek was one of glee. “I could’ve visited her with you! And she _remembers us_? Junior, we gotta go _right now_!”

“Uh, Tulip, I don’t think-” Junior tried, but Tulip grabbed his wing and pulled him to his feet.

“Hush, you old bird,” she said, and rolled her eyes. “Come on! Can you carry me on your back?”

“You’re not as light-”

“Good, I don’t like being carried by you anyway, let’s go!”

Junior sighed, but ran after her. He couldn’t keep the fond smile of his beak.

*

Diamond kicked her legs. She looked up at the sky and then back at her hands. Repeat. She was starting to wonder if dad was going to show up at all – but he’d _said_ next week! This was the exact same place, just a few days later – where _were_ he?

A loud shriek pierced her ears, and Diamond looked up. A woman was running towards her. A woman with hair the color of flames, eyes like grass and freckle-covered skin. “ _Diamond_!” she cried, and sped up. Behind her came a stork, elegant and slender.

Diamond’s breath hitched in her throat, and she nearly fell off the bench. “Mom,” she whispered, and ran to meet her. Their bodies slammed together, arms wrapping around each other’s torsos.

Bickering, howling, singing, talking, laughing-

Dad came over to them, looking distinctly uncomfortable. “Mom,” Diamond repeated, pulling back from the tight hug to get a good look at the woman.

Mom laughed, twirling her around in a circle. “Baby girl, you’ve grown!”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Dad muttered, and pushed the two of them in the direction of a nearby tree’s shadow. “Move! One human sees a stork with other humans, and we’ll get reported!”

“Oh, don’t you start again,” Mom complained, and Diamond grinned. She felt at home in such a different way than she did with Mother, Father and Nate. It was… safer, in a way.

When dad had successfully pushed them into hiding, Diamond turned to her family and smiled. “So, how did this happen?”

Mom’s smile froze.  “What do you mean?” she asked, through clenched teeth.

“Oh, y’know,” Diamond said, waving a hand. “A human and a stork… how did you become an item?”

Now dad laughed nervously. “Ahahaha, we’re not-”

“He’s not…”

“I’m not her-”

“I mean, we’re not _dating_ , how did you think-”

“Yeah, we’re not dating, Diamond, why-”

“Not that I’d have anything _against_ dating you, I mean no offense, but-”

“Wait, really?”

Diamond blinked. “Wh…aaaat’s going on here?”

Mom and dad exchanged a look, then said, in perfect unison – “We’re not an item.”

“What?” Diamond said, and frowned. “But I clearly remember…”

“Yes, about that!” Dad cried, happy to see a change of subject. “How do you remember? You’re not supposed to remember. I was supposed to tell you about your delivery, and then you ruin everything.”

“…sorry?”

Mom snorted. “Your- Junior is just joking,” she said, before turning sharp eyes at dad. “Right, _Junior?_ ”

“Of course,” Dad said, too fast to be the truth. “Of course I’m joking, pht, why wouldn’t I? Ha _ha_ alright now tell us why you remember.” He smiled a wide, fake smile, and Diamond coughed into her sleeve. “Why is… why is she coughing? Tulip, why is she coughing?”

Diamond coughed harder in a desperate attempt at hiding a smile. “D _ad_ ,” she choked. “I’m _right here_!”

“Right. Sorry.”

“Come _oooon_ ,” Mom groaned impatiently. “How do you _remember_? You were just a babe!”

Diamond shrugged. “Dreams,” she said, as if it could explain everything. “Dreams about safety. Dreams about you, about hair like fire and eyes like sunrise, safety and warmth and love.”

“Huh,” Dad said. “That’s… poetic.”

“No?” Diamond said. “I’m just… describing you.”

Mom bit her lip. “Diamond,” she said slowly. “Describe your surroundings. Don’t ask why, just… do it.”

Unsure about what to make of this, Diamond raised her eyebrows, but leaned back against the trunk of the tree. There was rough bark digging into her shoulder blades, but she didn’t really care. “The grass is green, the sky is covered by pale clouds but it’s probably blue underneath. There’s a tall building over there, which is my school, by the way, and we’re sitting in the shadow of a tree.”

A frown accompanied mom’s lip biting. “Close your eyes,” she blurted. “And describe _us_.”

Diamond did as told. She closed her eyes, and summoned a mental image of her family. “Mom… your hair is huge, and the color of flames when darkness creeps closer. You’re like a tree; tall and strong, with a large bush at the top. Your eyes are like grass during sunset, deep green and raw with emotion. Your skin is golden, like the flower dad stepped on. It’s covered by darker spots, like the night-sky, but in reverse.”

“Dad… your feathers are soft, like how I’d imagine clouds to be. They’re like warm milk, and the color of the moon. The feathers of your wings are dark, like the sky at midnight. Your eyes are shining, like sunrise and sunset combined.”

Slowly, Diamond opened her eyes, only to be met by surprised looks. Dad’s eyes were wet, and mom was openly crying. “What was… that?” Diamond asked, frowning in confusion. “I don’t- I don’t usually describe stuff like that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Abrupt ending, sorry.


End file.
